Tick Tock, Tick Tock
by MysteriousMagicalMuse
Summary: The Liars have discovered that Ali is still alive, but A is still close at their heels. Now people who Aria, Emily, Hanna and Spencer thought they could trust are looking more and more suspicious, or is this just A's slight of hand? When Spencer and Hanna make contact with an enigmatic girl from Philadelphia, can she help them or is she leading them straight into danger?
1. A Year Ago Today

30th September 2010

'So again Miss, we need an alibi that will verify that you were not in the DiLaurentis backyard on Monday the seventh of September 2009, the Labour Day weekend. We need their details' asked detective from the Pennsylvanian State Department. The girl was sitting in uncomfortable plastic chair on the opposite side of the detective's mahogany desk, her eyes staring at the back of his photo frames where dust had slowly began to gather beneath the stand.

'Your desk needs dusting' she said in a particularly quiet voice. The detective rose from his much more comfortable looking leather chair, rubbing his fingers against his temples.

'Miss, it's really in your best interest to answer these questions as honestly as you can. From the details I've got from the police in Rosewood they tell me that you were present at a large party earlier that Summer with Miss DiLaurentis'

The girl continued to stare at the detective's desk, as if observing the detail of his laptop and faux gold pen set would provide her with the evidence to prove her innocence. The detective moved to the side of his desk and leant over the girl so his mouth was inches from her ear.

'Is there someone threatening you? If so we can do things to protect you'

The girl turned her head, her eyes were blank and lips in a cold line.

'No one is threatening me Detective. The reason I can't give you an alibi is because I was alone in my dormitory on the evening of Monday the seventh of September, 2009. I do have a roommate but I have no idea was she was on that particular evening' she paused and drew in a sharp breath.

'I have ideas though'

The detective pushed off rickety plastic chair and stood back crossing his arms.

'Look Miss, personally I believe you but to ensure that you are not withholding information that could obstruct the investigation of this case I need an alibi'

'I suppose you could check my computer. The IP address should match the location I've previously given you. I was using it that night, and I've not upgraded my computer' she hesitated, 'There should be an email from my brother. He wanted to know if he could come over from Rosewood'.

The detective moved quickly behind his desk and begun typing away profusely at his laptop.

'Good, good. I know this is hard because you feel like your honesty may hurt the people you care about, but you are doing the right thing.'

'I don't care about any of these people' she snapped. 'From what I saw there was nothing but deception and manipulation that Summer. If Alison DiLaurentis was murdered than justice ought to be served, and if anyone who was there that Summer is privy to any information I believe they should be questioned. Well scrutinised is probably more appropriate.'

'You seem to have a lot of vehemence directed towards your group that Summer. Did something happen I should know about?' The detective peered over his laptop, an intent gaze on the girl.

She reached out her hand and began to draw circles in the dust around the stand of photo-frame.

'Well, that's the thing' she said and lifted her head to stair directly into the detective's eyes.

'I'm not actually certain enough to confirm anything that happened is even relevant. It's like me looking at the back of your photograph. I can see that something is there; I can assume it's either your family, a child, a lover, a sibling or a pet, but there is something blocking me from seeing it. Or I'm simply looking at it from the wrong angle. I knew something was happening that Summer in that group. I don't know what exactly. I saw tid bits, heard hearsay and saw the fall out. I was an outsider, I never knew what happened to cause such chaos.'

'Do you think these details could help piece the story together?' asked the detective.

'I'm not sure. But I'll tell you what I know…'


	2. Lightening Strikes on Halloween

"Aria, you forgot your phone", Ezra extended his arm to offer Aria her white cell phone. Aria hesitantly stepped forward , drawing slow, deep breaths. Her eyes were fixed on Ezra. He had a peculiar expression on his face. One which was unfamiliar to Aria. His mouth had a slight upward tweak, almost the ghost of a smile, except it wasn't the friendly smile of a friend doing a favour for another friend. The part in his lips, exposing his four slightly clenched front teeth and the fixated stare he held, was reminiscent of the "Big Bad Wolf" before he devoured his Little Red Riding Hood. Aria gingerly reached out and grabbed the phone, as a gale force of wind whipped around them, blowing fly away strands of her dark hair around her face.

The wind had garnered a penetrating chill since Ezra had dropped the girls off in Rosewood; it was the tell-tale sign of a storm. A blinding flash of lightening, followed by a trickling boom of thunder caused Aria to jump and turn around. Spencer, Emily and Hanna had followed suite, gazing at what a minute ago, had been Alison. All that was there in the dark were the pearly white doors of the Hastings mansion and the large oak tree, its leaves rustling in the wind. Aria stepped forward into another bright flash of lightening, squinting her eyes to make sure she hadn't missed Alison. They had only turned around for a minute, surely Ali wasn't that quick. Even so, she thought that Ezra would have acknowledged the presence of another girl, albeit one who he had assumed to be dead for the last two years.

Her ragged breathing drew Aria back into her surroundings, as she felt her chest heave up and down. She could hear Emily's shaky breath and Hanna gulp as she suppressed a shiver in the wind. Aria averted her gaze to Spencer, who was standing still like cold stony statue, impervious to the weather. Spencer's eyes were fixated on the spot Ali where Ali had just been standing. It took a few seconds for Spencer to process whatever she had been thinking, before she met Aria's gaze and gave her a knowing look. Spencer's pursed lips spoke a silent message as Aria, who fought back a feeling to gulp as she turned around face Ezra.

Ezra was peering curiously into the space between the girls and the oak tree.

"Are you girls okay? I thought I heard someone else when I came around the side."

"No." Spencer answered almost too quickly, "No, there's just us."

Ezra cocked an eyebrow, causing Spencer to glare defiantly back.

"No, I mean, like, you were gone two minutes. Who was going to come around here between now and then?" asked Hanna, giving Ezra a dismissive smile and casual shrug of the shoulders.

"Yeah, Mr. Fitz, it's only us here" Emily replied emphatically. She drew her arms across her chest and rubbed her shoulders.

"Though it's getting really chilly out here, I think I'm going to call it a night. Thanks again for the lift home."

"Yeah, me too" said Hanna, "I mean all this gear under here is probably a lightning rod, we better get inside."

"Yeah, Ezra, I'll call you tomorrow. Thanks again" said Aria, gently grabbing Ezra's hand to give it a squeeze. Ezra smiled again, though it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Anytime, girls. I just want make sure you're all okay. Things have been….intense since the murder of Detective Wilden, and I would hate to see you girls caught up in it any more than you already have in it."

"Thanks again Mr. Fitz. I can lead you out through the house if you'd like?" Spencer almost winced at her exaggerated politeness, but maintained her composure with a fake smile. Aria shot Spencer a warning look but Spencer continued to force her smile.

"No. No thanks Spencer, I'll show myself out" Ezra held Spencer's stare for a second, then turned on his heal and to make his way towards the back gate.

Spencer looked at the three other girls surrounding her.

"Inside." She whispered as slipped her hand into the pocket of her heavy Edwardian dress and fumbled for her keys. They made their way through the back door, to seat themselves on the Hasting's luxurious couches.

"Okay, Spence, what the hell was that all about?" snapped Aria.

"What was what all about?" Spencer asked, slightly confused.

"With Ezra! It was like you were trying to get him out before he started asking too many questions."

Spencer drew in sharp breath and looked at Aria.

"I was" she said quietly.

"What? Why?"

"Aria, in case you didn't notice, Ezra came back like a minute after we saw Ali! He could have seen her or he could've heard her"

"So what's Ezra got to do with Ali?"

"Ezra has nothing to do with Ali but in case you didn't hear her, let me reiterate; it's not safe for me to be seen. No one can know what we saw tonight" instructed Spencer, emphasising each word to make her point clear.

The girls sat in silence for a few moments, each of them trying to make sense of the night's events. Emily's forlorn gaze fell to her hands, as she nervously began to fiddle with her fingers. Emily was hoping her friend's would not delve too far into the reasons of her unease. Ever since it seemed like a vaguely realistic prospect, she was unsure whether she was ready to see Ali again. Or if she was even happy about it.

'Okay, so what do we know?' asked Hanna, breaking the silence.

Emily half smiled at Hanna and flopped her hands on the couch.

'I don't even know what we know. Ali apparently can't trust us, A was in Ravenswood, locked us in a passage and tried to kill Spencer.' Emily's glance moved from Hanna to Spencer to Aria.

'I don't know about you guys, but I don't know what to think'

'I know. Alison's alive. Why am I not insanely happy?' mused Aria as she pushed herself off the couch to walk over to the window.

'Because it complicates everything by a tenfold. Someone tried to kill Ali on Labour Day three years ago and they didn't succeed. We know Ali had a thing with an older guy at Cape May. We don't whether it was Wilden or Garrett or Ian but all three of them are dead, her…our brother is missing.' Spencer began

'We have a whole list of potential people who would want Ali dead'

'I don't know if it would be Wilden, Garrett or Ian' interrupted Hanna. Spencer shot her look of annoyance to Hanna raising her arms as if to say 'What?'.

'All three of them have ended up dead, which makes me if one of them was Boardshorts one of them would still be alive. I'm not saying Ali didn't have a thing with one of them but if Boardshorts and A are the same person, they obviously wanted to get to Ali without anyone interfering.' Hanna continued

'Wow, Hanna. That's really thought through' remarked Spencer.

Hanna smirked at Spencer.

'Just because I can't do magic tricks doesn't mean I can't read a situation.'

Emily smiled at their banter but was distracted by Aria who seemed lost in her thoughts, staring blankly out the window.

'What's up Aria?' asked Emily.

Aria took a deep breath and turned around.

'I was just thinking about what Mrs. Grunwald said. About one of us supposedly being touched by the one who's after Ali' she bit her lip, a worried look in her eyes.

'Does that mean A is right under our noses? Someone we know and trust?'

'It could be anyone. But so far, nearly everyone we know or have met since this crap started was on that board in A's lair. Why would A risk giving the wrong people, albeit just anyone access information on he who is trying to bring down. Especially when there's potential evidence to prove A's identity' Spencer snapped.

'I mean touched by the one who was after Alison. We could be have physically been touched or we could have been emotionally touched. The Grunwald may have saved our arses but it's not like she gave us a clear set of guidelines; "Don't trust your closest friends and family, but trust me because I pulled Alison out of the ground like a daisy"' Hanna rolled her eyes.

'What motive does the Grunwald have to lie to us? We just saw Alison. She practically lead to us, even if it's not the entire truth I doubt it's all a lie' said Emily imploringly.

'Em's right. Like we don't have much else to go on and we're nowhere closer to finding A then we were a year ago' sighed Aria with frustration as she sat back down on the couch.

'Look it's late and we're not going to figure out anything more tonight. I reckon we call it a night and regroup later'

'Ugh, thank God. I'm pretty sure this corset has broken my rib.' Said Hannah, as the girls got up off the couches and made their way upstairs to Spencer's bedroom.

The security around the Hastings' mansion was incredibly intricate. With state-of-the-art cameras, so inconspicuous one would hardly notice them in the tiny corner of a porch or in a crevice between a pot-plant. Movement sensors had been set up in several of the garden ornaments, as well as centre pieces in their lounge. Their locks and system were changed whenever there was a technological update, however even technology can't always withhold the power of a thunderstorm. No one would be suspicious that there would be a short power outage, it was such a common occurrence during storms of this size. The figure in the black hoodie found in quite easy to get into the lounge room after they'd jarred the Hastings security system with the electrowave transmitter. The figure was stealth and silent. Overturning cushions, looking under the carpet and moving the knick knacks on the coffee table to see if they could get back what they were looking for. Tempted to go upstairs A thought the better of it. Today had been a close enough call and A did not need any more trouble. The figure turned and left the house, careful to have everything exactly the way they'd found it. They would bide their time. They had more than enough, now that they knew Alison DiLaurentis was alive.


End file.
